Shoe inserts, or insoles, are widely used to provide cushion, comfort and support to a foot in a shoe. Without the use of shoe inserts, a shoe wearer commonly encounters discomfort in the joints and muscles of the feet, particularly in cases of prolonged wear. Additionally, a shoe wearer may encounter long term health problems, such as chronic back pain resulting from an improper shoe fit, or a lack of sufficient cushion and support in a shoe. For example, normal everyday activity such as walking or running involves repetitive impacts against the shoe wearer's feet. The forces derived from these impacts translate along the shoe wearer's back and spine and out to the rest of the shoe wearer's body and can lead, for example, to back problems for the wearer. A lack of sufficient cushion or support in the shoe increases the risk of such back problems.
An athletic shoe having a proper fit, cushion and support is especially important to an athlete's performance. Depending on the particular activity associated with the athletic shoe, the shoe is designed to withstand pre-determined types and magnitudes of forces. Most activities that involve running, such as soccer, football, baseball and basketball, require that the corresponding athletic shoe properly fit the athlete's foot. For example, soccer cleats should not be too tight around the athlete's feet, yet the feet should not move freely within the soccer cleats. An improperly fitting soccer cleat minimally can cause blisters to form on the foot which negatively impact the wearer's ability to play soccer.
A comfort pad is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,604 ("the '604 patent"). The comfort pad of the '604 patent includes a generally flat bottom surface and a top surface having an egg shaped depression formed on the top surface of the pad. The comfort pad provides an inexpensive, moisture absorbing pad to be inserted into shoes. However, when used in athletic shoes, the comfort pad of the '604 patent has several disadvantages. Most athletic shoes have a built-in, contoured, removable insert of molded foam material to provide a proper shoe fit. If the comfort pad is placed on top of the built-in insert, it may provide additional comfort, but this depends on the shape, quality, materials and stability of the built-in insert. For example, if the built-in insert is not generally flat, the comfort pad of the '604 patent does not sit correctly in the athletic shoe and actually contributes to the shoe wearer's discomfort. If the built-in insert is removed before adding the comfort pad, the area under the ball of the foot and toes has insufficient padding. The absence of padding or cushioning in the toe box area of the shoe leaves ample shoe space that can adversely affect the fit of the shoe.
The manufacturing of most types of removable athletic shoe inserts is complicated because the process requires placing heat moldable foam material between heated dies to contour the inserts before the inserts are cut to the predetermined shape. Using heated dies is an expensive and labor intensive technique because of the precise machining required of the dies and the requirement of chilling the die-pressed inserts. For example, removable inserts are typically manufactured by molding and contouring the insert under heat and pressure from the heated dies, chilling the insert to set the shape and eventually gluing and assembling additional layers if necessary.
What is needed is a shoe insert that supports and cushions the shoe wearer's foot under a variety of circumstances. More particularly, what is needed is an orthopaedic shoe insert that provides foot support to a wearer of athletic shoes. Further needed is a shoe insert that supports and cushions a shoe wearer's foot and can replace a built-in, contoured or flat, removable insert in a shoe.
What is needed is a shoe insert that provides foot support to a wearer of athletic shoes and that is less complicated and inexpensive to manufacture than conventional shoe pads.